Aoraki

Our first night in Gertrude had been at a beautifully secluded campsite in the wilderness, however today on the recommendation of the Lindsays we decided to suffer a crowded (yet remarkably quiet) camp site just outside mount cook village in order to hopefully wake up and see Mount Cook/ Aoraki on one of the rare days it shows itself from inside the clouds. We're glad we did, what views they were.

On arrival late in the afternoon we had an amazing run up the valley towards the mountain and hooker glacier

The next morning we awoke to a blue sky and a blazing sun. We started the day with a run up to the Mueller hut at the top of a nearby peak...

...where it was scorching in the sun but there was still snow on the top

This run/walk has >2200 steps to the mid point (!) which were more fun to run down than they were to climb up...

An afternoon cycle to the next valley along yielded more lovely views

But the best panoramics were saved until our drive back down the lake on our way to the next camp site where we managed to capture the late afternoon sun giving reflections in the glassy water

 

Gosh this place is beautiful...

A new career for Alistair?

We popped in to see Hamish and Jess Reid (Jamie's brother and sister in law) in Twizel where they were in the middle of weening and sorting sheep for the lamb sale on Jess's dad's farm.
After being extremely well fed (thanks Elaine) on the night we arrived (probably more veg than we'd managed to eat in our entire stay in Chile), and a good night's sleep in a comfy bed, the next morning we spent a few hours helping (getting in the way?!) on the farm, clapping, shouting and prodding at the sheep to get them into pens, and then passing them through the race in order to split the lambs from their mothers (and also split the different types of lambs from each other) before they were collected to be taken to the sale the next day. Luckily Jess was on hand to capture the moment:

We then drove hundreds of ewes out the yard, onto a track, up the hill, and down the other side into the field where they were going to spend the next few weeks (when I say 'we drove', i mean we sat in the back of a 4x4 while Mike commanded the sheep dogs and Hamish ran about in the scrub rounding up errant sheep). Alistair enjoyed the day so much he's now reconsidering future career options :)
Albeit brief, given we've now been away from home for a couple of months, it was great to spend some time with some friendly faces. Thanks to the Lindsays for the great Kiwi hospitality.

We'd like to introduce you to Gertrude...

She is:
Mature (1988)
Strong (2L Diesel engine)
Well proportioned (roomy interior, queen bed)
Can cook (2 burner LPG powered hobs)
Always prepared (well equipt kitchen, fully stocked larder)

Hosts dinner parties (bed converts into sofas and dining table)

Beautiful (hand made cushion covers)
Clean (recent full external and internal wash)
Functional (picnic table and chairs, solar shower, solar powered internal lights)
Likes outdoor sports (room to carry two bikes)
Ready for anything! (She carries with her the requisite12 year old single malt, and even has solar powered fairy lights!!!)

Gertrude is our new home and we're already in love....

ChCh

Part metropolis, part post apocalyptic ghost town, Christchurch is an interesting place. We didn't really get to see the sights though as our two days in town were spent indentifying, buying (remarkably quick process, off a nice kiwi chap who was emigrating to Vietnam) and equipping a campervan (full internal and external clean, new storage boxes, new kitchenware, hinge fixing, oil filling, new bedding, new front windscreen- thankfully paid for by someone else and stocking the larder), and buying second hand mountain bikes (which we've got a buy back deal for in Auckland in a couple of months). Fingers crossed we can sell the van on post the tourist season, although even if we don't it will still have been cheaper than a rental option or car and motel combo.
When we weren't preparing we did manage to sneak to the farmers market, the container town (the centre of town is now a series of shops and cafés in ISO containers whilst they repair all the buildings) and a fantastic burger joint (called burgers and beers in Sydenham).
Cheers Christchurch, you've been great.

One of THOSE days

I suppose when you're travelling you need to expect to have one of THOSE days at some point, and today, or yesterday, or this period of 24 hours (I'm a little tired) definitely qualifies. Although saying that, there have been a few minor ups in with the downs, so probably could be called a roller coaster, although given those are supposed to be fun, not sure it's entirely appropriate, but anyway, I digress.....
We boarded our 23.00 flight from Santiago to Auckland last night having flown up from Southern Chile a few hours earlier. When we got onto the runway we idled for a very long time before an announcement told us we were heading back to the stand due to a problem with the air conditioning. After a while on the stand they unloaded us.
At 01.45 they told us ( in Spanish only) our flight was not leaving until 19.00 the next day.
They then had to go through hundreds of immigration forms to reunite them with their owners and void our passport stamps as we'd essentially left Chile at that point and they needed to get us back in.
Laughably we then had to re-enter Chile including customs even though we'd never left.
We then stood in a queue for many hours to get a bus to the Sheraton in the city.
About 06.00 we checked in for the night (!).
We ignored the free breakfast and slept through until 12.30 ( despite having to have checked out by 12.00 oops), then ate an actually very nice free buffet lunch.
Got back on the bus to the airport. Now this is where we got a little luck- because we only had backpacks they squeezed us on to the first bus to fill space. We then shot through check in as the huge (400pax) queue built up behind us.
As we had missed our onward flight to Christchurch we planned to head into the lounge with the use of our airport angel cards ( perk of Barclays current account) to use their wifi to re-book.
On arrival we got told they no longer accepted airport angel cards- boo!
But we managed to piggy back on some free wifi instead ( which we think was coming through someone's android phone)- yay!
But then they got on a plane and we lost the wifi-boo!
But then one of our devices only has managed to find another free wifi- yay!
We managed to book another flight to Christchurch- yay!
But it is double the price of the last one - boo!
And here we sit, staring up at the departures board where it currently says tonight's rescheduled 19.00 flight is already delayed to 23.20, we're hoping it's a typo, but given it's one of THOSE days, you never know.....

Kayaking the Chilean fjords

We'd originally been planning to just hire some kayaks and go exploring the fjords for a few days but decided in the end to go on a guided trip...and we're very glad we did.

Our French guide Richard was excellent, enabling us to do much more in the kayaks than we would have done by ourselves (including going down some pretty serious rapids), telling us all about the development of the region, and meaning that we stayed overnight with a lovely Chilean farming family in the middle of nowhere!

The first day we paddled down a large river, with another pair and Richard. Stunning scenery, better than expected weather (the sun even came out for a while!) and the occasional excitement of some rapids made for a fantastic day.

Late in then afternoon the other pair were picked up (they had only booked for one day), and we were left with our own personal guide, to paddle the remaining section now on the fjord, to a lovely remote bay - our campsite for the night:

The Chilean family who lived in a little farmhouse were extremely welcoming - despite not being able to speak a word of English (they are a 45 mins hike from the nearest dirt road, so don't get many visitors!), giving us tea, taking us for a nice walk up the steep sides of the fjord to collect their sheep and cows (and enjoy the fabulous views), before settling down to a simple but tasty dinner of lamb legs and potatoes (yes, even Sam needed to eat some of the lamb!!!).

The next morning we paddled down the length of the fjord, up a side river (only just making it against some pretty strong flows at times) to a nice little refuge for lunch. Another short paddle took us to our pick up point, and a car ride back to Puerto Natales - where we even got our first sight of the top of volcano Osorno (which we hadn't been able to see because of cloud for the whole previous week):

(This picture is from a later day - but I'm sure you'll excuse the editorial license!).

A tasting menu

We thought our experiences of breakfasts in hostals in Chile was worth sharing. Spurred on by this mornings version.
The only way to describe a Chilean breakfast is like a tasting menu, lots of very tiny portions of things served in really random containers. Take today for instance: there was cereal ( some strange star shaped concoction) , about eight pieces served in a wine glass (in other places we've had it served in thimbles, cups and things, always only ever about 10 flakes, today was a new high). Followed by some scrambled egg (must be less than an egg each) served on a dolly size plate (about an inch and a half in diameter), followed by some Chilean flat bread roll with jam(ish), and finally, because we're in the area that had German settlers, a tiny slither of cream cake!!
Curious....

Didn't it rain!

The Chilean Lake District reminded us (particularly Alistair) very much of home: lots of rain and wind, but when it does clear it can be absolutely stunning!
We spent our first couple of days in the hub town of Puerto Varas deciding and organising what we were going to do for the next couple of weeks - spending several hours using the wifi of a delightful little cafe which served fabulous proper coffee (rather than the Nescafé we'd become used to - and they even had soya milk for Sam!) and kuchen (all of the south of Chile if heavily German influenced).
The plan for the first three days was to cycle around lake Llanquihue (Yan-key-way), which was supposed to be a delightful pedal in the Chilean sun....
A mediocre forecast didn't put us off however (we decided that it was preferable to cycle in the rain than kayak & camp - our other plan for the area) so we hired two very fine steeds from a helpful bike shop:

After a slight delay to our start to let the worst of the rain pass (hiding in our hostel for a couple of hours), we set off for an average first day (a cycle path along a road) - which did improve as, having reached our destination in time for a late lunch, we had time for an afternoon trip to Lago Todo Los Santos - for the first time truly appreciating the potential of the region, despite the clouds. ~80km cycling meant we had tired legs and were looking forward to our dinner. We'd heard about a place a few km up the road from the random Refugio where we were staying so we set off to find it. Set back off the road in a lodge we found a French inspired restaurant with a roaring fire and spectacular views. We had a lovely meal and Sam started to feel her age as she really appreciated the slightly finer dining aspects of the evening (which is not de rigour in Chile).

The second day was certainly 'type 2' fun (not at all fun at the time!) as the rain lashed down, the winds blew Sam sideways and our saddle-sore bottoms and achy legs reminded us we hadn't been cycling for a while! So we were certainly happy to reach a very welcoming hostel/b&b at the end of the day, with warm showers, cups of tea and fires to dry us out and warm us up, followed by dinner without needing to go out the front door!

The third day dawned a completely different kettle of fish, with blue skies and sunshine (even if the air temperature was pretty cool). We even allowed ourselves the luxury of a short stop on the lake shore to read our books...

...but unfortunately that rain in the distance was coming our way, so it wasn't long before the heavens opened again! Thankfully it was only a passing shower, and a shorter day cycling allowed an early arrival in Fruitillar, a chilled out afternoon and some good home cooking.

The final day's short ride back to Puerto Varas was mostly dry, despite being overcast and windy, and we celebtrated our return with a nice dinner in a great little fish restaurant! (Sidebar: despite having perhaps the worlds largest miles of coastline: population ratio the Chileans don't seem to really eat fish. Even in the Lake District where you'd think there would be trout or something you really have to hunt the stuff out!)

Having written all the above, we have since caught up with all the news at home, and certainly no longer feel in a place where we should be complaining about the rain - our thoughts are with any of you who have been affected by the atrocious weather.

Ps the title of this blog is also the name of one of our current favourite song by Hugh Laurie (Jazz album of the same name).

Pinguino

After a couple of days recovering in Puerto Natales we headed down to Punta Arenas for 24hrs before our flight to the Chilean Lake District.
A 2 hour ferry ride across the Magellan straights took us to Magdalena Island and >300,000 penguins...
Lots of them:

Walking:

Singing:

Babies:

Malting:

Penguin crossing:

March of the penguins:

Nest building:

Building an extension:

Flying:

And Sam's favourite...